Yeah, no kidding ! I brew way more than I can drink, and there’s no shortage of people ready to drain my leftovers. I don’t mind, I get to brew more often.
Not bad problems to have.
That’s a nice looking recipe. I think I will try it without the decoction and just use a direct heat step mash at those temps he lists. Any recommendations for the times at those temps?
I have had luck following Kai’s outline of the Hochkurz step mash.
Not trying to throw fuel on the decoction debate fire, but I’ve got a question:
What temperature does the decoction boil at?
I realize that “212 degrees at sea level on a standard day” would be the default answer…but doesn’t the presence of sugars perhaps raise that temperature? Consider candy making: as more water is boiled away from the sugar solution, the temperature increases. Granted, that is a MUCH thicker sugar solution than you’d likely find in a decoction boil, but the temperature should in theory still be higher.
Not enough sugar tpo make a real difference.
That’s about what I expected. What affect does starch/malt granules have on boiling temp?
again, not significant. especially because you should not have much starch in the boil.
I’ve measured the boiling temp of a 1.100 boiling wort at a handful of feet above sea level and the difference was a degree or two tops. That could be accounted for by difference in atmospheric pressure.
A 1.100 wort is about 24% sugar, and you can see that as you say only a few degrees higher. At my elevation (900 ft), that puts it up to about 212F, normally water boils at right about 210F here.
check the graph in the link.
http://kitchenscience.sci-toys.com/boiling_freezing_pressure
My friends are cyclical, when the beer dries up towards fall, so does the knock on the door. I enjoy their faces when they take that sip. One friend tells me how beer is his passion. I disagree, his passion is drinking good “free” beer.
As for the decoction debate, I guess I’m in the no thanks camp. I tried decoction once, never felt the need to revisit. I do love to read everyone’s experiences. I would love to taste the results of a triangle test, just not produce the decoction. The mess I made of the first attempt made me enjoy the complexity of my single infusion pils.